In-floor electrical fitting

ABSTRACT

An in-floor electrical fitting has a lower body that includes two half-bodies made of intumescent material. Each half-body includes a removable access wall that is also made of intumescent material and that is inserted into slots formed in the half-body. The removable access wall has at least one reduced-thickness section that can be broken off from the removable access wall to create a passageway through the removable access wall. During installation, the two access walls can be removed to allow an installer to a lay a conduit that will pass through the passageway through each access wall when the access walls are reinserted. An installer can pass power wires from one small compartment to another through the conduit while complying with code requirements calling for the separation of power and data cables.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/223,441, filed Jul. 29, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/739,392, filed Jun. 15, 2015, each of which ishereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to in-floor electrical fittings.

BACKGROUND

In-floor electrical fittings provide power and data connections at thefloor-level in the interior of a room so that power and data cables donot have to be routed to the room walls to make the necessary electricalconnections, thereby preventing tripping hazards and improving roomaesthetics. For example, one or more in-floor fittings could beinstalled below a conference table so that power and data cablesconnected to electronic devices sitting on the table can connect tobuilding AC power and building computer networks without extending pastthe footprint of the table.

One particular category of in-floor electrical fittings is apoke-through fitting. A poke-through fitting passes through the entirethickness of a concrete floor so that power and data cables can beconnected through the plenum space between the room floor of onebuilding floor and the ceiling of the building floor below. As such,power and data cables do not need to be routed to the fitting throughconduits within the concrete floor itself. Because poke-through fittingspass completely through the concrete floor, they are required by code tohave a fire rating as good as the fire rating of the floor.

Some in-floor fittings employ intumescent material inside of them toimprove their fire ratings. Intumescent material rapidly expands whenheated, thereby closing openings within the fitting so that a firecannot pass through those openings. Because poke-through fittings musthave the same or better firing rating as the floor, intumescent materialis sometimes used in poke-through fittings.

There is a need in the art for more versatile intumescent structuresinside of in-floor electrical fittings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary in-floor fitting inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a partially exploded view of the in-floor fitting shown inFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the in-floor fitting shown in FIG. 1with the cover removed.

FIG. 4A is a perspective view of a spider bracket assembly of theexemplary in-floor fitting shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4B is a partially exploded view of the spider bracket assemblyshown in FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5 is a partially cut away exploded view of the fitting shown inFIG. 1 with the cover assembly removed.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a lower body of the fitting shown inFIG. 1 with the removable access walls attached.

FIG. 7 is a partially exploded perspective view of the lower body of thefitting shown in FIG. 1 with an added conduit for routing cables orwires between two compartments.

FIG. 8 is a partially exploded perspective view of the bottom of thefitting shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a partially exploded perspective view of the bottom of thefitting shown in FIG. 1 with divider walls.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an exemplary in-floor fitting 100 inaccordance with the present disclosure. In-floor fitting 100 is apoke-through fitting. It should be understood, however, that the presentdisclosure is not limited to poke-through fittings. Poke-through fitting100 includes a cover assembly 102, a housing 104, and an upper body 106.Upper body 106 is made of intumescent material. Housing 104 is made ofmetal, for example, steel.

FIG. 2 shows a partially exploded view of in-floor fitting 100. As shownin FIG. 2, cover assembly 102 includes a ring portion 108, a lid portion110, and a hinge 111. Cover assembly 102 may also include a handle,gaskets, and openings for cords to pass through (not shown), asgenerally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,635,110 to Galasso et al., whichissued on Dec. 22, 2009 and which is hereby incorporated by reference inits entirety. In-floor fitting 100 also includes a spider bracketassembly 112. Spider bracket assembly 112 includes a main bracket 114for supporting mounting plates retaining power and data receptacles.Main bracket 114 (along with additional brackets attached to it asfurther described below) supports the mounting plates so that the frontsurfaces of the power and data receptacles retained thereon face upwardsand are recessed below the top surface of the fitting. Spider bracketassembly 112 also includes two retention legs 116 and two cover legs 118that extend upward from the outer periphery of the main bracket 114.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the in-floor fitting 100 with thecover removed. As shown in FIG. 3, each retention leg 116 includes abarb 120 that passes through an opening 122 in the upper body 106. Whenthe fitting is installed in a concrete floor, barb 120 presses againstthe concrete to help secure the fitting. The top of each retention legalso contains a bent portion 117 that is attached to the ring portion108 of the cover assembly. Each cover leg 118 includes a curved topportion 124. The curved portion rests in an opening 126 (see FIG. 2) atthe top of the upper body 106. The curved portion includes a screw hole128 for attaching the cover assembly 102.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show, respectively, a perspective view and a partiallyexploded view of the spider bracket assembly 112 of fitting 100. Inaddition to main bracket 114, retention legs 116, and cover legs 118,spider bracket assembly can include two side-compartment gang plates 130that are screwed on to main bracket 114. Each side-compartment gangplate 130 includes two screw holes 132 that complement screw holes 134on main bracket 114 to allow, when side-compartment gang plate ismounted to main bracket 114, for the mounting of a mounting plate 133(shown in FIG. 5) with a non-standard opening that can fit a simplex orduplex power-receptacle unit or a data-receptacles unit 135 (shown inFIG. 5). When side-compartment gang plate 130 is attached, two duplexpower-receptacle units (four total receptacles) can be installedend-to-end on each side of the fitting 100. Alternatively, gang plate130 can be removed to allow for attachment of a mounting plate (notshown) that has a NEMA-compliant—NEMA stands for “National ElectricalManufacturers' Association”—opening that can fit a standard duplexpower-receptacle unit (not shown) (the same as or similar to the unitsinstalled in ordinary wall boxes) or a standard data-receptacles unit(not shown). Spider bracket assembly 112 also includes twomain-compartment gang plates 136 that are screwed on to main bracket114. Each main-compartment gang plate 136 includes two screw holes 138that in addition to four screw holes 140 on main bracket 114 can be usedto, for example, secure mounting plates for four single-gang power- ordata-receptacles to be mounted side-by-side in the middle of the fitting100. The gang plate 136 also includes slits 137. Spider bracket assembly112 also includes four long shank screws 142 that secure the spiderbracket assembly 112 to the bottom of housing 104. As can be seen inFIG. 4B, each retention leg 116 has a flange 144 with a hole throughwhich a long-shank screw 142 passes to help retain the retention leg tothe spider bracket assembly. Flange 144 also includes a vertical portionthat fits within a similarly-sized opening in the lower body 148 that isdescribed below. Similarly, each cover leg 118 has a flange 146 with ahole through which a long-shank screw 142 passes to help retain thecover leg to the spider bracket assembly. Flange 146 also includes avertical portion that fits within a similarly sized opening in the lowerbody 148 that is described below.

FIG. 5 shows a partially cut away exploded view of the fitting 100 withthe cover assembly 102 removed. As is shown in FIG. 5, a lower body 148that is preferably made of intumescent material sits below the upperbody 106. The lower body 148 is made up of two half-bodies 150. Eachhalf-body 150 includes a separable access wall 152. Access walls 152 arealso preferably made of intumescent material.

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the lower body 148 with the accesswalls 152 inserted. As shown in FIG. 6, ribs 154 extend from the bottomof each half-body 150 of the lower body. Each rib 154 ends with anangled surface 156 that mates with an angled surface on a correspondingrib on the other half-body when the two half-bodies are broughttogether. Walls on each half-body 150 along with the half-body'scorresponding access wall 152 define a side compartment 158 for housingthe back portions of installed power or data receptacles. Together,walls of the two half-bodies 150 along with the two access walls 152define a middle compartment 160 for housing the back portions of moreinstalled power or data receptacles. One or more ribs 154 can bedeformed or detached when they block the proper routing of cablesentering into the middle compartment 160. A notch 155 in each ribfacilitates this deformation or detachments. Angled surfaces 156 allowtwo opposing ribs 154 to be easily moved away from each other without,for example, excessive friction.

The lower body 148 contains multiple compartments instead of a singlecentral opening so that the fitting 100 can mount both power and datareceptacles. Power cables and low-voltage data cables are required bycode to be separated. Power cables and data cables cannot be routed inthe same conduit or compartment either outside or inside of anelectrical fitting. In fitting 100, each side compartment 158 isseparated from middle compartment 160 by access wall 152 so that, forexample, the side compartments can house power receptacles and themiddle compartment 160 can house data receptacles or vice-versa. In alarger poke-through device such as, for example, a 10-in. diameterpoke-through device, the side compartments 158 can be made large enoughso that they can house not only the back portions of mounted devices,but also the required electrical connections, for example, theelectrical connections between the power wires pre-connected to aninstalled electrical receptacle, wires in a building source power cable,and potentially the wires in one or more additional cables. Because theelectrical connections can be housed inside of the small compartment158, the electrical connections do not have to be made in a junction boxlocated below the housing of the fitting as they do with known fittings,or in some other location below the housing. A junction box locatedbelow the housing of the fitting is not desirable because it increasesthe overall height of the fitting. Instead, the electrical connectionscan be made inside of the fitting as described in more detail below.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, each end of access wall 152 has a protrusion162. Each protrusion can slide in a corresponding slot 164 in thecorresponding half-body 150. The access wall also has two opposing slots166 in its middle region. Adjacent to each protrusion 162, surfaces ofaccess wall 152 and the half-body 150 on side of the middle compartment160 together form a slot 168. Each of the slots 166 on the side of themiddle compartment 160 and the slots 168 can receive an edge of a plate169 (shown in FIG. 9) for further dividing the middle compartment 160.Thus, for example, middle compartment 160 can be divided into two ormore compartments to provide the required separation to allow both powerreceptacles and data receptacles can be housed within the middlecompartment 160. Each of the slots 166 on the side of a side compartment158 can receive the edge of the plate 169 for further dividing the sidecompartment.

The bottom corners of access wall 152 have reduced thickness sections170 (FIG. 5). One or both reduced thickness sections can be broken offto provide access between a side compartment 158 and central compartment160. Corresponding reduced thickness sections 170 on both access walls152 can be broken off to create a spatial path from one side compartmentto the other side compartment. If both side compartments house powerreceptacles, then power wires can be routed from one side compartment tothe other in conduit 171 (FIG. 7) that passes through the openingscreated by the removed reduced thickness sections on the access walls152. In known poke-through fittings, power wires are not so easily andefficiently passed from one side compartment to the other sidecompartment within the height of the intumescent body. Instead, in knownpoke-through fittings the power wires are passed from one side toanother via a passageway formed by a sheet-metal cover mounted to thebottom of the metal housing of the fitting, thus increasing the overallheight of the fitting. Alternatively, a separate building source powercable is routed into each of the two side compartments in knownpoke-through fittings, thereby increasing the infrastructure required topower the fitting.

Power receptacles can be installed on the sides of the fitting andconnected to building source power in the following manner. First,main-compartment gang plates 136 are removed from main bracket 114 andaccess walls 152 are removed from half-bodies 150 of the lowerintumescent body 148. At least one reduced thickness section 170 on eachaccess wall is removed either with a pair of pliers or by hand. Aconduit 171 is then positioned at a location such that it will passthrough each access wall when the access walls are reinserted at anopening created by the removal of a reduced thickness section. A powercable is routed through the conduit so that one of its ends passesthrough one of the side compartments 158 and the other of its endspasses through the other side compartment 158. The access walls 152 arethen reinserted into the half-bodies such that the conduit passesthrough each access wall at an opening created by removing a reducedthickness section of the access wall. Main-compartment gang plates 136are then screwed back on to main bracket 114 to help secure the accesswalls 152. The end of a building source power cable is passed through aconduit plate 178 (shown in FIG. 8; described in more detail below)mounted to the bottom of the housing 104 at a location beneath one ofthe side compartments 158 and is further passed through the sidecompartment 158. At a location above that side compartment 158, the endsof wires of a receptacle unit that is already mounted on its respectivemounting plate is brought in the vicinity of the ends of the wires ofthe source building power cable and the ends of the wires of the cablepassing through the conduit. Wires of the same polarity (hot, neutral,or ground) from each of the building source power cable, the cablepassing through the conduit and the wires extending from the receptacleare then electrically connected to each other by, for example, wire nuts(the ground wires are also connected to a ground wire 190 (shown in FIG.5) that has one end mounted to the housing 104. The connections are thenpushed into the side compartment. The mounting plate for the receptaclecan then be screwed on to the bracket 114 and, if required, the smallcompartment gang plate to fully or partially close the side compartment158. Similarly electrical connections between the opposite ends of thewires in the cable passing through the conduit and the wires of a secondreceptacle unit that is pre-mounted onto a mounting plate can be madeabove the other side compartment 158. Once made, the connections can bepushed inside that side compartment 158 and the mounting plate for thereceptacle unit can be screwed onto bracket 114 and, if required, thesmall compartment gang plate to fully or partially close that sidecompartment 158.

FIG. 8 shows a partially exploded perspective view of the bottom of thefitting 100. The housing has openings 172 corresponding to the locationsof side compartments 158 and an opening 174 corresponding to thelocation of middle compartment 160. Screw holes run along the sides ofopening 172. The screw holes are for mounting plates, such as blankplate 176, conduit plate 178, and feed plate 180. Conduit plate 178 canbe used to connect fitting 100 to an electrical conduit (not shown)housing a building supply power cable and provides an opening for thatpower cable to enter the small compartment 158. Feed plate 180 can bemounted at a location where a building data cable will enter the smallcompartment 158. Any combination of two conduit, feed, or blank platescan be used for an opening 172. Similarly, screw holes run along thesides of opening 174, for example four pairs of screw holes. The screwholes are for mounting plates, such as middle-compartment feed plate182. Middle-compartment feed plate 182 is similar to feed plate 180 butis larger than feed plate 180 and can also secure intumescent blocks 184via clips. Middle-compartment conduit plates and middle-compartmentblank plates similar to plates 178 and 176, respectively, can also beattached via the screw holes along the side of opening 174. Anycombination of four feed, conduit, or blank plates can be used alongopening 174. Alternatively, larger two-gang middle-compartment feed,conduit, or blank plates can take the place of two single-gang plates.Use of a two-gang middle-compartment conduit plate can place the conduitopening directly below a set of ribs 154 extending from the half-bodies150 and may call for deformation or detachment of that set of ribs asdescribed above.

Referring to FIG. 9, the plate 169, also referred to as a divider plate,can be inserted into slots 166. The slits 137 formed within the ganglate 136 are in register with the slots 166 formed in the access wall152 and allow the divider plate 169 to be slid therethrough. Thus, thefitting 100 can be configured with walls 152, plates 169, ribs 154, andconduits 171 as necessary depending on desired functionality of eachfitting 100. The modular walls 152 additionally allow connectivitybetween compartments when the reduced sections 170 are removed.

While the preferred embodiments of the devices and methods have beendescribed in reference to the environment in which they were developed,they are merely illustrative of the principles of the inventions. Theelements of the various embodiments may be incorporated into each of theother species to obtain the benefits of those elements in combinationwith such other species, and the various beneficial features may beemployed in embodiments alone or in combination with each other. Otherembodiments and configurations may be devised without departing from thespirit of the inventions and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electrical fitting, comprising: a body made ofintumescent material, the body having an interior wall defining acompartment; and a ring portion configured to engage the body, the ringportion comprising: a ring-shaped sleeve defining a central passage; anda flange formed at an upper end of the ring-shaped sleeve, the flangeextending radially outward from the ring-shaped sleeve; wherein thering-shaped sleeve is configured to slidably engage at least a portionof the interior wall of the body and the flange is configured to limitengagement between the ring-shaped sleeve and the interior wall.
 2. Theelectrical fitting according to claim 1, wherein the portion of theinterior wall includes at least one engagement feature, and an exteriorsurface of the ring-shaped sleeve includes at least one correspondingengagement feature complimentary to the at least one engagement featureof the interior wall.
 3. The electrical fitting according to claim 2,wherein the at least one engagement feature and the at least onecorresponding engagement feature interact to prevent rotation of thering-shaped sleeve within the body.
 4. The electrical fitting accordingto claim 3, wherein one of the at least one engagement feature or atleast one corresponding engagement feature includes a protrusion and theother of the at least one engagement feature or at least onecorresponding engagement feature includes a depression.
 5. Theelectrical fitting according to claim 1, further comprising: a housingconnected to an end of the body opposite the ring portion, the housingdefining at least two separate compartments.
 6. The electrical fittingaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a lid hingedly attached to thering portion, the lid closing the central passage when in a closedposition.
 7. The electrical fitting according to claim 6, wherein anupper surface of the lid is flush with an upper surface of the flangewhen the lid is in the closed position.
 8. An electrical fittingcomprising: a body made of intumescent material, the body having anupper end, a lower end, and an interior wall defining a compartmentextending from the upper end to the lower end; and a ring portionconfigured to engage the upper end of the body, the ring portioncomprising: a ring-shaped sleeve defining a central passage, the ringshaped sleeve having an exterior surface configured to slidably engageat least a portion of the interior wall of the body; and a flange formedat an upper end of the ring-shaped sleeve, the flange extending radiallyoutward from the ring-shaped sleeve and having an upper surface and alower surface; wherein the lower surface of the flange engages the upperend of the body to limit engagement between the ring-shaped sleeve andthe interior wall when the exterior surface of the ring-shaped sleeveengages the portion of the interior wall of the body.
 9. The electricalfitting according to claim 8, wherein the portion of the interior wallincludes at least one engagement feature, and the exterior surface ofthe ring-shaped sleeve includes at least one corresponding engagementfeature complimentary to the at least one engagement feature of theinterior wall.
 10. The electrical fitting according to claim 9, whereinthe at least one engagement feature and the at least one correspondingengagement feature interact to prevent rotation of the ring-shapedsleeve within the body.
 11. The electrical fitting according to claim10, wherein one of the at least one engagement feature or at least onecorresponding engagement feature includes a protrusion and the other ofthe at least one engagement feature or at least one correspondingengagement feature includes a depression.
 12. The electrical fittingaccording to claim 8, further comprising: a housing connected to thelower end of the body, the housing defining at least two separatecompartments.
 13. The electrical fitting according to claim 8, furthercomprising: a lid hingedly attached to the ring portion, the lid closingthe central passage when in a closed position.
 14. The electricalfitting according to claim 13, wherein an upper surface of the lid isflush with the upper surface of the flange when the lid is in the closedposition.
 15. An electrical fitting comprising: a body made ofintumescent material, the body having an upper end, a lower end, and aninterior wall defining a compartment extending from the upper end to thelower end; and a ring portion engaging the upper end of the body, thering portion comprising: a ring-shaped sleeve defining a centralpassage, the ring shaped sleeve disposed within the compartment andengaging at least a portion of the interior wall of the body; and aflange formed at an upper end of the ring-shaped sleeve, the flangeextending radially outward from the ring-shaped sleeve, the flangeengaging the upper end of the body to limit engagement between thering-shaped sleeve and the interior wall.
 16. The electrical fittingaccording to claim 15, wherein the portion of the interior wall includesat least one engagement feature, and an exterior surface of thering-shaped sleeve includes at least one corresponding engagementfeature complimentary to the at least one engagement feature of theinterior wall.
 17. The electrical fitting according to claim 16, whereinthe at least one engagement feature and the at least one correspondingengagement feature interact to prevent rotation of the ring-shapedsleeve within the body.
 18. The electrical fitting according to claim17, wherein one of the at least one engagement feature or at least onecorresponding engagement feature includes a protrusion and the other ofthe at least one engagement feature or at least one correspondingengagement feature includes a depression.
 19. The electrical fittingaccording to claim 15, further comprising: a housing connected to thelower end of the body, the housing defining at least two separatecompartments.
 20. The electrical fitting according to claim 15, furthercomprising: a lid hingedly attached to the ring portion, the lid closingthe central passage when in a closed position.